India says energy security remains a core condition for development and that access to resources and their prices should not be turned into a tool of political pressure. Indian External Affairs Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar made the remarks at a meeting of Global South countries held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The text of his speech was published on the website of India’s foreign ministry.
Jaishankar said a second key priority is removing bottlenecks in logistics, finance and supply chains. He stressed that countries should not accept the creation or normalization of such barriers.
According to the minister, at a time when the world was supposed to be moving toward multipolarity, the opposite is happening in practice. He said international organizations that were expected to provide solutions have in many cases become part of the problem. For the Global South, Jaishankar argued, solidarity has rarely been more important.
He also called for stable supplies of grain and fertilizers and said developing countries should not be deprived of the right to industrialize. In his words, Global South states find themselves on the “front lines” during global crises while remaining in the “back rows” when decisions are made, which is why closer economic cooperation is needed.
The call not to politicize energy prices came after US President Donald Trump signed a law allowing tariffs of up to 100% to be imposed on the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas.
The measure refers to a 2026 US sanctions bill on Russia and Iran introduced by Lindsey O. Graham. It provides for secondary trade measures against countries that purchase Russian oil and gas, including tariffs of up to 500% on Russian goods imported into the United States and tariffs of up to 100% on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil or gas. In its final version, the document specifically focuses on the five largest importers of Russian energy.
India is one of the main buyers of Russian oil and therefore falls within the scope of the secondary tariff mechanism. At the same time, the law is written in a way that allows the US president to waive sanctions under certain conditions.
Earlier, India’s foreign ministry said it would take the necessary steps to protect the country’s trade and economic interests. The ministry also stressed that New Delhi would continue to safeguard energy security for its 1.4 billion population through supply diversification and by taking market conditions into account.
